Supertech twin towers: 3,700 kg explosives to demolish buildings in seconds

The Supertech Twin Towers are expected to be demolished this month by August 28, a deadline set by the Supreme Court of India. (PTI)

Explosives have reportedly been fixed in the smaller of Supertech’s twin towers in Noida, slated for demolition on August 28. Edifice Engineering, the company responsible for demolishing the 40-storey towers, will now complete fixing explosives in Apex, which is the taller of the two buildings, reports Hindustan Times.

The Supreme Court had earlier fixed August 28 for the demolition of Supertech twin towers in its Emerald project in Noida. It also relaxed the time frame till September 4 in case of delays arising from technical or weather conditions.

The 103-metre-tall Supertech towers -- Ceyanne and Apex -- will be counted among the tallest buildings ever to be demolished in a controlled explosion.

The charging – or the process of fixing explosives in columns of building’s skeletal structure – will be completed by August 26. After that, the team will start connecting shock tubes to prepare for the demolition which is expected to disrupt traffic on August 28.

While the controlled explosion itself will take only a few seconds, the dust cloud it will expel is expected to settle within a few minutes. Traffic in the area will be diverted for an hour and a half on the day of the blast.

“The demolition company has informed us that the blast will take only a few seconds and the dust cloud will be cleared within a few minutes. For safety reasons, we will take some buffer time as well,” Ganesh Prasad Saha, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), told Hindustan Times.

One executive with Edifice Engineering spoke to India Today ahead of the demolition, saying that the buildings will “collapse like water.”

Uktarsh Mehta, partner with Edifice Engineering explained, “The entire operation will take seven to eight minutes and the locals will have to be evacuated during the period. The dust will settle in the next seven to eight minutes.

“The building will collapse like water. The controlled explosions will take place in such a way that all floors will collapse on the floor below,” Mehta said.

Around 3,700 kilograms of explosives will be packed into the holes drilled in the twin towers. The team for the demolition has 100 people.

The charging of Apex is on track and 15% complete. Each day, around 200 to 300 kg of explosives are packed into the structure.

(With inputs from PTI)